SIX CAREER STRATEGIES TO FIX IN 2006

If you are like most professionals, 2006 is a chance for new opportunities, a chance to fix what is broken, and a time to move forward. Here are a few things you may need to “fix” in 2006!

JOB SEARCH STRATEGIES. Perhaps you are tired of conducting a job search that seems to go nowhere, regardless of what you do. Maybe you’ve called everyone you know and they either don’t return your phone calls or e-mail messages or state they don’t know anyone that’s hiring.

Maybe you think there has got to be a better way to conduct a job search other than posting to the Internet. If this sounds familiar, then new job search strategies are in order. After all, doing the same thing over and over and expecting completely different results is insanity!

IMPROVING YOUR INTERVIEWING SKILLS. Maybe you have been getting several calls for “first” interviews, but never make it to the second stage and are frustrated. There are countless reasons why people may not be invited back – those reasons range from something simple as wearing a brown and a black sock to serious topics such as being dishonest, arrogant, or rude.

More than likely the reasons why a person isn’t invited to second interviews is because the candidate doesn’t know how to really interview, didn’t find the PAIN the company is experiencing, didn’t sell their credentials and ability to resolve business problems, and didn’t communicate their VALUE to the company.

NEGOTIATING A SALARY. If you are like most job candidates, this part of the job search puzzle really concerns you. You are afraid to ask for what you really want, assuming it will cause you to be eliminated from the top three candidates. You know you deserve a high salary and great benefits, but asking for it is another story!

WORK LIFE BALANCE. You’ve made up your mind. You are really going to work fewer hours this year and spend more time with your family and doing the things you really love to do. After all, life really is short! Maybe you have committed to finding a better job that enables you to have more of a work life balance.

REJUVENIATE YOUR CAREER. Are you tired of doing the same type of functions every single day? Has work become dull and boring to you? Do you find yourself really dreading work? If so, it’s time for career rejuvenation!

Maybe it doesn’t mean you need to find a new employer or change careers. Maybe you just need to find new outlets for your energy and passions. Perhaps your company can present new opportunities to you. But you will never know unless you speak to your managers about your desire to advance in your career.

Another alternative could involve completing training programs, earning a new certification, mentoring someone, joining new professional organizations and meeting new people. Career rejuvenation doesn’t have to be focused on your daily functions and responsibilities.

BUILDING A NETWORK.   Maybe you’ve promised yourself that this year IS going to be the year you really get out and network. You’ve heard it from dozens of sources that networking is the framework to career success, and now you really believe it. If you’re clueless about where to start, start networking with those you know and trust well. Consider joining one or two organizations and becoming visible and active in the organizations. Networking is about knowing exactly what you want. It is about exchanging information and keeping in touch with your network members--- consistently and continually.

If you need help “fixing” any of these career elements, I’d be delighted to discuss this with you. Just send an e-mail to me at info@agreatresume.com or call me at 1-800-265-6901.

WHAT VALUE DO YOU REALLY BRING TO THE TABLE?

This is a difficult question to answer, I admit. But it’s the focal point of your job search. It’s imperative you be able to readily answer this question during the course of your job search. The question may never be asked directly, but it’s on the minds of screening agents, hiring managers, executives, recruiters, networking contacts, and others. It’s the primary question they want addressed.

What unique experiences do you have that others do not?   What are they going to get in return for their investment in you?

They could select a candidate from hundreds or thousands of other qualified candidates. But what VALUE will they expect to “buy and receive” if they hire you? You need to be very prepared to address this issue even though no one may ask you, “What value do you bring to the organization?”

These are questions you should ponder, brainstorm with a career coach, or discuss with your colleagues. Draft your value statement and work on it until it sounds perfect, doesn’t show you as “one of thousands”, and truly demonstrates your bottom-line value.

EXAMPLE:

Let’s take a look at a Sales Manager who has 15 years of experience selling diverse healthcare products.

If I were to ask Tom, our fictitious Sales Manager, what his value is to a company, Tom would typically respond like this: “I am great with people. I develop quick rapport with everyone. I’m a great sales leader. I love my customers and they love me. I have 15 years of experience.”

There are numerous problems with this response. Let’s dissect it.

• Nearly every single person will tell you they are great with people. The issue at hand is the fact nearly EVERYONE is great with people, and even animals get along very well with people. There is no difference between Tom and other Sales Managers. This is no big deal!

• When Tom states he is a great sales leader, why is he making this statement? I would think a sales manager is naturally a great leader. Doesn’t Tom realize every sales manager will make that statement? What does it really, really mean to a company that Tom is a great sales leader?

• He has a reciprocal relationship with customers – they are fond of each other. As far as a differentiating factor, this is not compelling or exciting news!

• He has 15 years of experience. That’s good – countless Sales Managers may not have acquired that many years of experience. Conversely, maybe other Sales Managers Tom competes against have more experience.

See, these are cliché statements that are certainly NOT value-driven. No one will leap out of their chair and rush down the hall to tell others about Tom.

Now, let’s look at a few things Tom could use to formulate his value statement.

• What if Tom reveals he has a 96% sales closing ratio? Wouldn’t that be exciting news to a company? Would they be thinking, “Our sales will explode if we hire Tom. Upper management will be happy, stock holders will be delighted.” We need a super strong closer like Tom.

• What if Tom stated he has business relationships with 25 of the nation’s most important Hospital Administrators? What if Tom stated he has negotiated multi-million dollar sales deals with each of these Administrators? What if Tom could get personal endorsements from several of these executives so his company could use them in marketing materials to promote Tom? Wouldn’t the company be very excited about hiring Tom? Wouldn’t their wheels be spinning with ideas? Wouldn’t they see their revenue soaring?

• What if Tom stated he has conducted business in China, Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Tokyo? What if he mentions he has opened up new markets in these places and generated over $50 million in 12 months? What if Tom stated he opened this markets 2 years ahead of his closest competitor? Since Tom wants to work with a company eager to tap into these markets, his value is clearly seen!!!

These are three examples of VALUE STATEMENTS. These statements will enable hiring decision makers to perceive Tom’s VALUE and Tom is far, far ahead of his competition and his job search will be short!! It’s extraordinarily imperative you define your own VALUE STATEMENT. It’s critical you really drill down and figure out what you do that is valuable to a company.

What are YOU willing to give to a company that is worthy of a salary? How are you better and different from the other people you compete against?

I encourage you to immediately begin working on your VALUE STATEMENT. If you find it difficult or would like some help, call me at 1-800-265-6901 or e-mail me at info@agreatresume.com . I’d be happy to help you create a Value Statement that is exciting to prospective employers and clearly separates you in the job market.

DO YOU APPROACH YOUR JOB SEARCH FROM A PROJECT MANAGEMENT PERSPECTIVE?

The majority of job seekers have no defined system to support their job search. They simply conduct the job search in a haphazard manner without considering that their job search is a project and should be conducted as such.

If job seekers would approach the entire job search from a project management perspective, success would be realized faster. So what does a project manager do – they identify problems, map out solutions, pinpoint the resources needed to get the job done, document all actions, overcome problems, have meetings with all parties involved to discuss issues and overcome concerns, plan for Phase I, Phase II, and Phase III, manage budgets, and much more. Speak to any project manager and they will tell you their job is focused on steps, processes, methodologies, meetings, documentation, goal-setting, and problem-solving.

I can’t cover all aspects of how to project manage your job search, but I can review some key points to illustrate the process.

PROJECT TIMELINE / GOAL-SETTING . Do you have definitive goals – when do you want to land the ultimate prize? What are your daily, weekly, monthly, or quarterly timelines? What needs to happen by major dates – such as the end of the first month or the end of three months? Can you effectively measure your progress without any written plan regarding your job search timelines?

BRAINSTORM MEETINGS. Who are the members of your job search team? Do you consistently meet with your job search team to discuss progress, obstacles, new ideas, leads, etc. Project managers aren’t the only person involved in a project, they manage the team and project.

Are you the “Lone Ranger” in your job search project or are you leading a team? Are you conducting productive brainstorming sessions?

DATABASE MANAGEMENT. Have you set up a comprehensive database containing key contacts, referrals, recruiters, associates, and other information? Do you have key information readily available – including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail addresses, dates, conversation notes, etc.?

DOCUMENTATION. If you were asked to give someone a written plan of action noting everything you’ve done in your job search, everyone you’ve spoken to, and all the information you’ve gathered, would you be able to do so? Project managers can do this!

PROBLEM-SOLVING. When you hit walls in your job search, do you rethink your strategies or insist on doing the same thing over and over again, even though it’s clearly not working? Do you work with colleagues or career coaches to work past your problems? Do you get the advice of objective parties?

RELOCATION. If you are like most job seekers, they are willing to move wherever there is an opportunity. However, it’s always better if you know where you are going. Why not select five cities you would definitely consider working in, and conduct due diligence in those areas?

Otherwise, you’ve completely given up control of your job search and have an approach of “Wherever I land will be ok.”

That’s really a huge mistake. If you can relocate, you need to be tightly focused on this issue. It simply makes your job search 1,000 times easier if you know where you are going. Learn what industries and companies exist in your target cities. Begin your long-distance networking.

You can call the Chamber of Commerce and ask for information on the city (or visit their website). You can find a wealth of information about cities on the Internet by using sites such as locationguides.com. Conversely, discuss your target cities with people who used to live there; they can give you good insight.

JOB SEARCH EXPENSES MANAGEMENT. Are you maintaining records of your expenses that you can use for tax reporting purposes? Résumé and career coaching assistance, airline trips, car rentals, etc., are usually tax deductible. Be sure to check with your accountant. This is another aspect of job search project management.

REFLECTIONS & REWARDS. On Fridays, do you reflect over the week to review your successes and shortcomings? Do you reward yourself for excellent progress? These are two more components to successful job search project management.

These are several ideas you can use to project manage your job search and be successful faster! I hope these are very helpful to you.

If you have any questions, send me an e-mail at info@agreatresume.com . Happy project management!!

10 SURE FIRE WAYS TO **NOT** GET ANY JOB INTERVIEWS

As a Certified Professional Resume Writer, I speak with countless people every week who are totally frustrated with their job search and on the verge of giving up hope of ever landing a new job. When I quiz them about their methods, I understand in a heartbeat what is wrong with their approach. So, here are 10 things you need to do to avoid the same frustration!!

• Post your interview on monster.com, careerbuilder.com, hotjobs.com, and wait and wait and wait for someone to call you for an interview. Falsely believe the Internet has the magic key to landing interviews. You convince yourself the Internet HAS to be the ONLY way to get interviews. You ask yourself, “If the Internet has millions of job listed and I’ve posted my resume to countless job boards, why isn’t anyone calling me?” Even though no one calls you, you religiously continue to post your resume to the job boards believing one day your luck will change and someone will call you.

• Go home at 5:00 every day instead of attending informational interviews, meeting someone for coffee/tea, driving around the business district to see what companies exist, having a conversation with your mentor, among countless other things.

• Pay your dues to professional associations but never attend the meetings, or post your resume to their website, use their database to make phone calls or send e-mails, not participate in any volunteer projects. You want to make sure you remain totally INVISIBLE to the membership.

• Forget that your neighbors may have good ideas or great contacts for you. You think they are so busy too they can’t chat with you for 10 minutes. You don’t know them very well, so you would feel strange talking to them about a “job”. You are afraid they make think less of you if you discuss needing/wanting a new job with them. You don’t think about the conversation as being a great way to network and get to know your neighbor. You don’t think you may walk about feeling more confident or having the names of some other people to contact.

• Not contacting ALL of your family members, friends, former colleagues, and current colleagues to discuss your job search with them and get ideas, leads, and contact information. You’re thinking even if they don’t live in your city or are over a certain age, they can’t help you. You believe that if they live far away, they probably don’t know anyone in your city or know someone that knows someone that lives in your city. You know these people are busy, so you don’t want to intrude in their busy lives for 15 minutes or send them an e-mail.

• Not forming a support team to help you out. For example, not asking someone to pick up your children from school or take care of them a couple of hours on a certain day of the week so you can go to network meetings. You can’t ask someone to do some Internet research for you, because everyone is so busy.

• Not having a career management team to help you with research and administrative tasks related to your job search and brainstorm with you on ideas.

• Not having a real industry or company focus. You are willing to let things “fall in your lap,” instead of having target industries and target companies. You know your skills will transfer to any industry, so you really aren’t concerned with having a target industry, any industry will be ok with you.

• Not setting any goals. You just let nature take its course and whenever it happens, that’s great. So you aren’t worried about making or achieving goals and reaching milestones.

• Not hiring a Career Coach who is an expert and has a wealth of job search knowledge in all aspects of job search campaigns. You can do this alone and you don’t mind waiting and waiting and waiting as long as it takes!

I wrote this article to give you some information on HOW to actually land interviews. These are actions I observe job seekers NOT doing in order to move forward in their job search. If any of these items apply to you and your job search, just do the opposite!! I encourage you to take this information and apply it to your job search. Don’t do the things listed above that most job seekers do, but do the opposite!

PRE LABOR DAY JOB SEARCH PREPARATION

Do you realize Labor Day will arrive in 59 days? Labor Day is a milestone in the calendar of career professionals. It reminds us the fun days of summer vacations and recreational activities are over, crops have been harvested, children return to the classrooms, and falling leaves, wintertime and major holidays will soon be approaching.

If you are like many job seekers, you may have made a decision to put your job search on hold during the sizzling days of summer and will relaunch your search following Labor Day. Below are some activities that you can do now to be ahead of the game before Labor Day arrives at our doorstep.

• Why not hold a bar-b-que party with your co-workers, friends, and/or family members and give a short speech about your upcoming job search? You could speak for five minutes to tell all those attending about your career, what you want to achieve, what type of companies you would want to work with, etc. Tell them how they can help you (they won’t know how unless you tell them). You’ve got a captive audience, use it to your advantage. I’d suggest making this announcement just before you say, “Enough about me! Whose hungry? Let’s eat!!”

• Why not spend some time investigating several cities you are interested in? Most people are willing to relocate, so now would be a great time to conduct Internet research, obtain information from the Chamber of Commerce, speak with others who used to or now live in your target cities, etc. Compile and organize this information, create databases, design “con & pro” lists for each city, etc. Thoroughly analyze the city – don’t forget to investigate its crime rate, school systems, healthcare facilities, and a myriad of other things that are important to you and your family.

•  If possible, why not visit one of these target cities for the weekend or a few days? Study its culture, talk to local citizens and see what they love and hate about the city, gather information.

• Begin e-networking with people who live in the city. I can invite you to join my e-networking system. It’s free. Just send me an e-mail. I have nearly 2 million people in my e-network system. Use this to your advantage.

• Compile a list of companies and industries within your targeted cities. Begin a list of contacts and know who you need to talk with after Labor Day.

These are just a few of the numerous activities you can basically do in the comfort of your cool home and/or office. It’s a great way to beat the heat and be ahead of the game once Labor Day arrives!

HOW BLOGGING WILL HELP YOUR JOB SEARCH

It’s good to be a Blogger and blogging is fun!!

Now you, too, can become a Blogger and have fun while you search for new career and job opportunities. Owning a blog is like having a website. It’s your opportunity to write articles and post them for your readers. You can share information and express positive ideas. For job seekers, I suggest you have a very professional-driven blog and weave in a few tidbits about your personality to give the blog more pizzazz. I would not include personal information such as your marital status, religious beliefs, number of children, etc. The purpose in owning a blog is to attract the attention of your target audience. So incorporating personal information would not be a good idea. If you want a personal blog, that’s a different story.

Every professional needs a blog – it’s part of your online presence and will enable your name to be picked up by search engines. Let’s say you are a Sales and Marketing Director in the semiconductor industry. Now imagine a recruiter or HR person conducting a Google search for a person just like you. If they type in “Sales and Marketing Director in the semiconductor industry,” your name could rise to the surface! This will bring you visibility.

Moreover, you will want to continually write articles in your blog to gain loyal readers and get more exposure. Fresh content is important.

Another thing you will want to do is visit and post to other blogs. This is also a way for you to network with other people, learn about companies, their employees, job openings, etc.

One word of caution – if you blog, never state anything negative about your colleagues or company. Be extremely professional; safeguard your company’s secrets. Blogging will enable others to trace your Internet footprints, and you wouldn’t want your manager to find any negative comments you wrote on the Internet!

Blogs are here to stay and becoming more popular every single day. They are the wave of the future, and the future is here now.

If you would like to see a blog, check out my new blog at

http://www.agreatresume.typepad.com/blog

If you want a blog, but don’t know how to create one, I can help you. In fact, I am launching a new service that will entail setting up blogs, creating your layout and categories, helping you write the content, and more. If you are interested in having a cutting-edge blog, give me a call or send an e-mail. 1-800-265-6901 is my number, info@agreatresume.com is my e-mail address.

Get on the cutting edge, launch your Blog today!

TIPS ON HOW TO CONDUCT A SUCCESSFUL LONG DISTANCE JOB SEARCH

Nearly every job seeker states they are willing to relocate for the right opportunity, and will relocate “anywhere.” Conducting a job search in this manner sets the stage for a long, frustrated job search. So, the first thing you need to do is decide on target cities. Thoroughly research a few cities before you officially launch your job search.

STEP ONE – RESEARCH

When you relocate, you’re not just going to work in this new city, so investigating other factors is critical. For example, do you need to research a city’s school system or higher education system? Do they have outstanding child daycare centers? What’s the annual climate like? What is the culture of the city and does it mesh with your hobbies, interests, and values? What is the crime rate? Do you need public transportation? Does any member of your family have special medical needs? What is the healthcare system like? There are many factors to consider.

Get your family involved – have them do Internet research on the city. Hold roundtable discussions with your family to discuss their wants and needs, and then develop a strategic plan to target a couple of cities, preferably just one city.

The next step is to conduct exhaustive research on these cities. Speak with people who live in your current city that may know people that currently or previously lived and worked in your target city. In other words, start at your own back door. Investigate the industries and companies for which you would like to work. Your fruitful networking will lead to telephone meetings with people who work at these selected companies. Leverage e-networking systems to make connections – great e-networking tools are linkedin.com and ryze.com. These tools enable you to connect with others electronically.

If you want to join my linkedin.com network with 1+ million contacts, send me an e-mail.

STEP TWO – TRAVELING TO THE CITY

Following comprehensive due diligence, you need to make a trip to your target city for at least five days to conduct your interviews, hold strategic planning meetings with network contacts, and more. Don’t forget to secure more network contacts while you are there. Make the most of your time during the day.

During the nighttime, become familiar with the city. Remember, you probably have a list of “must-have” criteria, devote the nighttime hours to visiting different businesses, restaurants, and asking questions about the city. Make the most of your time, after all you invested a lot of money in this trip and spent countless hours prior to your arrival.

STEP THREE – THE FOLLOW UP

Once you’ve returned home, it’s imperative for you to maintain and grow your new professional relationships. This is your key goal now … keep these contacts apprised of your status, don’t let them forget you. It’s your responsibility to maintain constant contact with them so you’re always top of mind when they need you.

I suggest sending your contacts postcards, e-mails, and certainly telephone them occasionally. Whatever you do, don’t let them forget you and the value you offer to their company.

I’ve launched a new 1-hour program called “Conducting a Successful Long Distance Job Search”. This extensive program includes a lot of additional information that goes much, much deeper than the above article. It’s a really great and exciting program. I will also include sample letters and other documents you must use! If you are interested, call or send me an e-mail and we’ll discuss it!